For the Love of a Dog

Okay, I had to have a bit of doggie fun after my last couple posts in which I ranted about CDL. I realize you must all think I'm a wack job, as no one except my IRL friends justified me with comments in my last post about her. I think that is because they know I'm really not a nut case. Thanks girls! I love you so much and am so glad you are here to support me!

So, a couple of weekends ago I took one of my BFFs to an Irish festival that was in town. She has been having a rough go at life lately, loves EVERYTHING Irish, and needing a day out to just enjoy herself. We had a blast. My husband didn't, but the girls did, and that is all that mattered that day. We toured hundreds of booths peddling Irish fare. I bought a new dress for the renaissance festivals they have here in Texas twice a year and that DH and I LOVE to go to, and my BF bought a gorgeous green bodice. We dress up for these festivals and have a great time. My BF now intends to go to said festivals with us.

It was during our booth touring that I came across a Scottish booth. Okay, I am seriously in love with Scotland and all things Scottish. My husband and I visited there a couple of years ago when we were in the thick of infertility treatments. It was a much needed and deserved break. If I could live anywhere in the world, it would be Scotland. On top of being a completely gorgeous land, Border Collies come from Scotland. In fact, Sadie's daddy is from Scotland (I always ask her if he had an accent). So when we visited there, I bought tons of BC stuff because you don't really see it here that often (when I do, I buy it).

The thing that first attracted me to the booth was this pair of socks.


Of course I had to buy them! Then on further inspection I found these socks to go with the others.


Guess who was in heaven? Me!

The sales lady got wind of me and it all went down hill from there. Before I knew it I had this pillow cover in my hand to go with my socks.


Then I had their last BC Christmas ornament in which I can write my dog's names. A magnet for my car that says "I *heart* my Border Collie", and a stuffed BC for the Munchkin (which she loves and sleeps with in her crib).

My husband had to walk away to keep from seeing me go nuts over so much BC stuff, and my friend just sat there and laughed. I couldn't help it. I so rarely see BC stuff, and then it was in a Scottish booth to top it all off!

But the best two BCs at the end of the day are right here, under my roof with me.


They are sitting in front of Sven, my husband's mannequin that he intends to use to make himself leather armor (or so he said when he bought the leather and Sven 4 years ago) for said renaissance festivals. Sadie is hiding his "Man Junk." Good pup!

In closing I would like to say that I really am a very sane person and not weird in any way, even though I realize some of my posts on this blog can make me appear that way. If you want or need proof of my sanity, let me know and I will provide you with my primary blog address. :)

I HEART Fall

I should be upstairs taking a nap right now, since this would be my only chance of the day, but instead, I am here with you, writing about something I love, fall, and sharing some of my all-time favorite memories.

In the years before DH and I met, I had a best friend named Nate. Every single Friday, Nate and I would go out and do something fun together. It was our day. Usually we went to dinner and a movie, hung out downtown, went on a quest for some new music, or went hiking. The latter was our favorite. At the time, I had a little dog named Ruby. She was my first ever Border Collie, and on top of that, she was red. Nate and I loved my dog, and we loved taking her hiking in the mountains near our homes. We have so many wonderful memories of going up into the mountains with Ruby, some that still make us laugh to this day.

Not only did we love hiking, we loved doing it in the fall, and we went as often as we possibly could. Here are a few pictures from some of my favorite hikes. I usually took my camera, and I am so glad I did because I will always have these moments to cherish forever.


Here Nate and Ruby pose for a fantastic picture moment in front of some golden quakies. According to the date on this picture, Nate and I had been friends for about three years at this point. Man we used to have fun. Sometimes I really miss those days.


This is one of my absolute favorite pictures of Ruby and me. It caught in one picture the heart of our relationship. We were both supposed to be looking at the camera, but Ruby reached up to give me a kiss just as the shutter opened. She did this a lot, and the paw always came up when she did. I always loved her kisses, and was always happy to take them. She was my pup.


The scenery was always breath taking. We could have spent hours upon hours in the mountains. We didn't care how cold it was. Light was our only enemy on these gorgeous fall days.


I was occasionally afforded the opportunity to let Ruby off leash. She loved these moments, as it gave her a chance to run through the brush and explore.


Seriously, does it get any more beautiful? In real life the golden trees look as though they are glowing. It is incredible, and there is nothing like it. I really, really miss my mountains, especially at this time of year.
I guess Ruby needed a break. Nate loved taking his turn walking her on our hikes. We took this dog everywhere we possibly could.

I just can't resist sharing these gorgeous pictures. I hope you can't get enough, because I sure can't. I had a hard time eliminating pictures from this post. I wanted to share them all.

Finally, I wanted to share a slightly quirky picture of me in what Nate and I liked to call the swamps. This area reminded us of the movie, LOTR. You can see on my face how happy I was in those days. I was so young and carefree. I valued and looked forward to my time with Nate every weekend. We were never romantic, but we were certainly the best of best friends.

I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane with me. I know I will enjoy looking at these pictures all next week at work. :)

Crazy Dog Lady Part 2

It is time for part 2 of our Crazy Dog Lady story. If you didn't catch part 1, scroll down a bit in the blog and read it for the back story.

The day after my first run in with CDL, I decided to take the dogs and baby out for a walk again. This time Mags was being a little bad, so I decided to leash her shortly into the walk. I have a leash splitter that turns one leash into two, which I was using this night. DH did not join me, but caught up to us shortly after we turned around to head home. A few minutes after we met on the trail, I looked up and saw CDL come around a bend on the trail. I KNEW she wouldn't be able to keep her yap shut. Sure enough, "Oh for pete's sake. Will you please put your dog on a leash?!" I was seriously irritated, and coldly replied, "She IS on a leash." All the while not making eye contact to keep from wanting to lunge at her. She repeated, "Will you PLEASE put your dog on a leash!" I looked up, made eye contact, and raised my voice, "She IS on a leash!!"

DH knew that I had been having a really rough week and interjected to keep me from pummeling CDL. This was the first week I had been to see the shrink, and was before I got my prescription for happy pills. I was totally at rock bottom on this day and had zero emotional capacity to deal with this woman. He politely explained the leash splitter and why Mags wasn't always on a leash. She then began to explain herself by saying her dog didn't like it when other dogs weren't on leashes and it tended to make him misbehave. I bit my tongue and kept walking to keep from telling her SHE was the moron, not her dog. Her dog had no idea how to discern if another dog was on a leash or not, especially if it kept to itself. If her dog was having issues, it was because she was passing her neuroses down the leash to him.

Shortly after getting home I took my dogs out to a green area near our house to play ball and run out some of their excess energy. A few minutes into the game CDL came around the corner and pronounced, "Oh for God's sake! WILL YOU PLEASE PUT YOUR DOGS ON A LEASH!"

DH was not around to save her this time, and I had absolutely had it.

I yelled back that I didn't have a leash, as I was playing ball with my dogs. 6-foot leads are NOT conducive to playing fetch. She then yelled at me and asked how she was supposed to get home. I dunno you moron, by walking down the alleyway 20 feet behind me? At this point I had boiled over. I turned and yelled at her, "If your dog can't behave well enough to go on walks even when he's on a leash, then you need to learn how to be a responsible dog owner and get him trained! The reason my dogs behave is because I have spent thousands of dollars in dog training!"

Of course, she wasn't going down without a fight, and screamed at me the entire time she was walking down the alleyway 20 feet behind me. She told me that I was really nice picking a fight with a neighbor, to which I replied, "Likewise! YOU started this, not me!" Her reply was that she had asked a simple request of me, to which I replied her request was ridiculous. She then threatened to call the pound on me. I told her to go right ahead, and that I would call them right back on her since her dog obviously could not behave and that I was not doing anything wrong.

The entire time we were fighting do you know what my dogs were doing? Laying in the grass next to me, their eyes GLUED to the ball in my hand. They didn't give two figs about her or her stupid dog. Why? BECAUSE MY DOGS ARE WELL TRAINED!

Once she had walked past and shut her yap, I pulled my phone out of the stroller compartment and called DH. I was so angry I was shaking. CDL turned around and glared at me while I called him. She watched me the entire time she was walking down the alley and flipped me the bird just as she went around a corner. I put my hands up in a gesture that implied, "What do you want from me? Grow up."

DH came out right away and was just as pissed off as I was about the whole thing. He said, "I bet Mags and Sades didn't even notice her or her dog, did they?" Nope.

A few days later I was out in the same area playing ball with my dogs. I had turned to talk to my daughter while she was in her stroller and when I looked up CDL was walking down the alleyway right across from us. I quickly looked away and ignored her, but smiled to myself because she had to walk up that alleyway while watching my dogs take turns getting the ball. How many people do you know that have two dogs that take turns playing fetch? While one runs, the other lays down at my feet and waits. I thought to myself, "Ha! Stick that in your back pocket you old bag! Now you've seen my dogs behaving."

We have run into each other a couple times since the incident, but we just ignore each other. I really have no desire to get into another match with her. I didn't want the first one, but I just could not handle a complete stranger feeling like she was entitled to push me around over some neurotic need she had in her head to control everything in her environment.

CDL, if you ever come across this blog, please do the world a favor and get in to see a shrink shortly after enrolling your cocker in dog school. I can attest to the fact that happy pills really do work. You should consider getting on some.

Thus ends my Crazy Dog Lady story. I hope it brought you as much laughter as it has all of my friends, family, and coworkers. I hope that you do not think ill of me for this incident. I really am a kind and generous person. I just have no patience for rude people.

Sticking In My Craw

Before I finish the Crazy Dog Lady story, I first have to get out something that has been sticking in my craw for years. I just want to go on the record and say that I seriously hate irresponsible dog owners. You know the ones I'm talking about. The ones who do any of the following:

• Own a dog and walk said dog unaccompanied by poop bags. Dog poops, owner looks around to see if anyone is watching before running away, leaving their potentially disease-carrying dog poop to be someone else's problem, such as the responsible dog owner's when their dog comes down with giardia (if you don't know what that is, google it; it isn't pretty), or the child who happens to step in it.
  IF YOU'RE GOING TO OWN A DOG, CLEAN UP AFTER IT! BE RESPONSIBLE FOR GOD'S SAKE!
• Own a dog that does not and cannot behave in public because you are too irresponsible to train and properly socialize said dog.
• Walk an untrained dog while not on a leash, and said dog runs up to my leashed dog and gets up in my dog's face or jumps on me. No, I am not okay with it because I own a dog. No, I do not think it is cute. At all. Please don't expect me to smile and be polite when your irresponsible behavior has interrupted mine and my dog's walk.

Tonight DH and I went out to dinner, and when we returned home, found a pile of dog crap in our yard. Our house just happens to be along the very walking trail Crazy Dog Lady walks her dog on. Coincidence? Maybe. Do I suspect? Yes, very much so. I know she knows where I live, and believe me, it is only a matter of time before I figure out which house in my tiny neighborhood is hers. Even if it wasn't her, I don't feel that I am in any way, shape, or form responsible for an irresponsible dog owner's dog poop left in my yard. So tonight after my shower, I dawned my sandals, went out to the shed to grab the pooper scooper, went out front, scooped up the poop..., and dumped it in the middle of the trail. Its not mine. I won't clean it up. I don't appreciate it being left in my yard where my dogs and children play. When I walk my dogs, you bet your sweet bippy I carry poop bags, and if one of them pops a squat, I clean up after them. IT IS MY RESPONSIBILITY AS A DOG OWNER.

GAH!

All right, so ends my rant. If just one irresponsible dog owner reads this and changes their ways, praise be to Heaven and thank you from the bottom of every responsible dog owner's heart.

Crazy Dog Lady Part 1

Last week DH and I were out walking our baby in her stroller along with our two Precocious Pooches. One of my dogs is a bit older (3 years) and more mature. She is a very well behaved dog, and I never hear anything to the contrary. In fact, I am constantly getting compliments about how well behaved she is. Everyone who has ever been in contact with her instantly loves her. I actually used to take her to work with me at my previous job because my coworkers loved and adored her. When we go on walks, I often don't put her on a leash because she generally stays right next to the stroller. She doesn't wander off or get into any kind of mischief. She stays right where she knows she is supposed to be.

Our other pup, on the other hand, is just that. A pup. She just barely turned one this year. The breed is known for being hyperactive for the first 2-3 years, and then they hit a turning point and calm down into very gentle, cuddly dogs. As she is a hyperactive pup, however, we cannot trust her to be off leash on walks. Ever. She would run all over helter skelter and get up in other dogs' faces. She even has a tendency to rile up other dogs while she is on leash just by perking up her ears and acting bulky. Usually DH walks her because she tends to pull, while I push the stroller and keep an eye on our other dog.

That being said, both of my dogs are generally well behaved and well trained. I have trained 8 dogs in my short 30-year life so far. I am no greenie to the arena. I have spent thousands of dollars in dog training and socialization classes for my pups. The thing that brings the most pleasure from strangers is that my dogs actually take turns getting the ball when we play fetch. It is not uncommon for passerby to stop and watch my dogs play fetch.

Now back to the story. We were walking along a windy trail that opens up into a grassy area. At the other end of the grassy area, it closes back down to go through some woods and over a bridge. After which point, the path turns a 90 degree angle off into some more woods. DH and I had just entered the clearing, when up ahead just before the bridge there was a woman with an ill-behaved cocker spaniel. She was at least 100 yards ahead of us. Far enough that I could not see her face. We heard the woman call out, "Are both of your dogs on a leash?"

Perplexed, I didn't know why it would matter. Our older dog was minding her business and walking right next to the stroller. I replied that one of them was. She then asked if I would please put my other dog on a leash. Instantly my hackles were up. My dog wasn't misbehaving in any way, shape or form. Obviously this woman had some kind of neurotic need to control absolutely everything in her environment.

As I am not a confrontational person, I begrudgingly obliged. Once my pup was on a leash, the woman crossed the bridge and disappeared around the corner, with her ill-behaved cocker in tow. I irritatedly asked DH why the hell I had to put my pup on a leash, pointing out that the woman's dog did not behave any differently when my dog was on a leash as opposed to when she wasn't, and that the woman could no longer even see us. He was clearly as irritated as I was and told me to take her off her leash. I did.

We then proceeded to walk across the bridge ourselves and around the corner, across another bridge, and into another clearing that opens up to a duck pond. As soon as we entered the clearing, the woman was standing off to the side of the trail waiting for us. I glared at her, then ignored her, and we continued on our way. We did not see her again that night.

DH and I have lived in this area for over a year now and I have never seen this woman before that night. I have asked a few neighbors if they knew her, but no one does. One of them suggested she might be new to the neighborhood. Another offered to go to battle with me if needed.

Thus ends part 1 of our saga. Stay tuned for part 2 that promises a cat fight in front of neighborhood children....